Opening the window, Mal closed her eyes and let the breeze play with her hair. From the bed Carlos mumbled a sleepy complaint, burrowing deeper into the blankets, earning a laugh from Jay who was lounging next to him. Of the pack, Carlos hated mornings the most and ever since they'd learned there was at least an hour and a half between when the sun rose and when the cafeteria opened, he'd been sleeping in. Their princess was in the bathroom, taking full advantage of the bathtub and unlimited hot water to pamper herself.

So it was actually a nice Saturday morning.

Naturally, the gods decided they didn't deserve one.

A flutter of dark feathers caught her eye and Mal grimaced as a raven landed on a branch across from the window. Beady black eyes glimmered at her, more intelligent than any bird should be, and the sharp beak clacked.

Kraa-Kraa.

"Go away," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

Ice froze her pulse as the raven didn't flee. Instead it tilted its head and ruffled its feathers. Kraa-Kraa. Fuck. There was only one raven it could be. When she didn't immediately move, the raven clacked his beak and stretched his wings. After all this time pretending to be a normal bird on campus and keeping his distance from them, there was only one reason Diablo would be so direct now.

Maleficent wanted to talk.

"We have company," Mal announced as she watched her mother's familiar hop along the branch, neck looking broken as he tilted it further to eye her.

"Company?" Jay repeated.

"Yeah. An ugly overgrown chicken with an attitude." She swore Diablo hissed at her. She stuck out her tongue, resisting the urge to flip him off. He was the familiar of Maleficent herself, the most powerful dark fae, for a reason.

As Jay cursed softly, Carlos sat up, eyes wide. "You mean…?" he whispered and Mal nodded. There was nothing she could say to make the news any less terrifying.

Letting Jay focus on reassuring their pup, Mal took a deep breath and made her way to the bathroom and knocked. "Bath's done, E. A feathery messenger wants us to follow him."

A splash answered her before Evie did, her voice a little too steady. "Okay."

Five minutes later, Mal surveyed her pack. All three had covered their curses, Jay wearing a shirt beneath his vest and Evie wearing several thick bracelets. It wouldn't do anything to protect them, but she didn't blame them; she'd covered hers too. Neither would the knives she knew they were all carrying. Killing Diablo would only make things worse in the long term, assuming they could actually kill the damned chicken.

"Well, let's get this over with." Evie shot her a look and Carlos winced, but Jay at least snorted. Squaring her shoulders, Mal opened the door and led the way down the hall.

The moment she stepped outside, Diablo dove at her, claws snatching at her hair. Before she could retaliate, he darted out of reach to circle above them once then started flying towards the edge of campus.

"I hate that bird," she muttered as she stalked after the familiar.

It was early enough that almost no one had left the dorms and the few people who were out were occupied with their own things. A minor gift from the gods. No one would question why the four villain kids were following a big black bird off campus. Because that wasn't suspicious at all. Still, Carlos's gaze darted around, fingers twitching near his knives, while neither Evie nor Jay bothered putting on a show as they walked, and all of them moved as quickly as possible without drawing attention.

When they reached the edge of campus, they hesitated. Tilting her head back, Mal stared at the towering trees of the forest. Their first day on campus she thought it was beautiful; a mostly wild and peaceful piece of nature so close that she could explore it whenever she wanted; the first piece of true nature she'd ever seen. Now, it looked gloomy and dark. Nothing like the lively forest of only yesterday.

Overhead, Diablo cawed, mocking them, threatening them.

"I guess we're going in," Jay said and Mal sighed.

"Yeah. Looks like it."

Another caw from Diablo urged them forward. As the trees closed over them, Mal shivered. Beside her, she heard Evie mumble something about nature enhancing whatever spell Maleficent used to contact them. For a moment Mal eyed the trees. How hard would it be to burn it all down? Would it make it harder for her mother to reach them? Could she get away with it? Pale fingers tapped her wrist and she glanced over to meet Carlos's gaze as he shook his head. With a low curse, she shoved her hands in her pockets.

Diablo led them slowly, hopping from tree to tree, dark feathers almost invisible in the shadows, for ten minutes before emerging into a clearing. Trees with strange veil-like branches loomed over a near perfect circular pool of clear water. Purple and red crystals glinted in the trees and from within the grass. Picking up one of the crystals, Mal realized it was a ring.

"He must've collected all of these," Evie whispered as Diablo fussed with a necklace hanging from one of the branches. "To help strengthen the spell."

"Just what we need," Jay muttered, kicking lightly at a hunk of red crystal.

Diablo paused and turned a single eye to watch them.

"Maybe we shouldn't mess with them," Carlos suggested. Fingers plucking at his shirt above the curse, he moved to Mal's side and she made a point to brush her fingers against his side. Wide brown eyes flicked up to her before focusing again on the raven.

"Alright, chicken, what do we do?" Mal asked.

With a hiss, Diablo hopped down to the pond and pecked at something hidden in the water. Frowning, Mal reached over. And the raven pecked her, flicking a drop of her blood into the water.

"What the fuck?!" she snarled, snatching her hand back and glaring at the blood beading on the side of her hand. "That hurt."

"Um, Mal," Jay frowned. "What is that?"

"What's what?"

In reply, he pointed at the pool and Mal followed his finger to the inky blackness blooming from the thin cloud of red. As they watched, the entire pool became a roiling mass of darkness. Diablo cackled as he flew up into the branches.

"I see you were able to follow Diablo. At least in Auradon you haven't become completely hopeless."

Carlos went pale, staggering back into Evie, as their princess's face went perfectly blank. Arms crossed, Jay angled himself in front of both of them.

Maleficent.

"Mother," Mal greeted.

The water cleared into the image of her mother, yellow eyes sharp and knowing, horns regal, and mouth a thin, unimpressed line. "Spawn," Maleficent acknowledged. For a moment, yellow eyes flicked towards her pack before returning to her, dismissive. "Tell me, how is the completion of your task going? Well I hope." Her eyes glowed gold. "For your sakes."

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. She knew this was coming. There was nothing else her mother would want to talk about. But how to fuck was she supposed to answer? They hadn't made any progress. Absolutely none and that answer was not what her mother wanted to hear. And that never ended well for anyone reporting to Maleficent.

Gaze darting towards Evie, Mal felt her blood ice over. What should she say? Blue eyes met hers and all Evie could do was shake her head. Her gaze drifted to Carlos and her pup refused to look at her, already shrinking in on himself. When she glanced at Jay, her second-in-command braced himself. There was nothing she could do. They were fucked.

Taking a deep breath, Mal forced herself to meet her mother's gaze with a shrug. "It's harder than we thought it would be, but we're finding some clues."

"I see," Maleficent mused. Long black nails tapped the crystal of her scepter as Maleficent gazed past her. "I'm impressed you've found the time between all your classes and side projects." With a hum, Maleficent continued, "Or perhaps fortune has favored you and your classes all revolve around the history of the Isle?" Overhead Diablo clacked his beak. Mal refused to shudder as her mother focused on her. "Unless you've become bold enough to lie to me?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Mal snorted. "I'm not-"

A scream cut her off and she whirled to watch Carlos double over, clawing at his collarbone, moments before Evie staggered back with a shriek. Blood oozed from Jay's lip as he bit back his own scream. It took everything in her not to run to them.

"What did you think the answer was going to be?!" Mal shouted, eyes glowing as she glared at her mother. "We've only been here for like a month and there are people fucking everywhere! Why would we have anything?!"

Pain burst across her nerves and she fell to her knees, gasping.

"You've gotten bolder, oh daughter of mine," Maleficent sneered, voice echoing in Mal's ears. "Do not forget your place."

"Mother-" Darkness crept along the edges of her vision.

"Had you told the truth, your punishment would've been far less."

The curse burned and Mal dug her fingers into the grass. She couldn't…she couldn't breathe…Her pack…They were…Carlos was panting, Jay groaning, Evie sobbing. This…She…

And then it was gone.

"That being said," Maleficent mused, "You are strangers on the mainland and under heavy scrutiny. I am not so unreasonable."

Blinking away tears, Mal lifted her gaze to the pond and found her gaze locked with her mother's.

"Just remember, my daughter. My time and patience are not infinite. Find a way to break the barrier before it runs out."

"Yes, Mother," Mal breathed, but the pool was once again clear as glass.